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Kerry J. Ressler

6 papers in the library · 137 citations · publishing 2015-2026

Papers

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Investigational drugs in PTSD.

Neuropsychopharmacology June 1, 2026 Ted Obi, Kerry J. Ressler

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) remains one of psychiatry's most challenging disorders, common, disabling, and biologically complex. Despite decades of research, only sertraline and paroxetine are FDA-approved, both with modest efficacy. Even first-line trauma-focused psychotherapies leave up to half of patients with persistent symptoms. However, advances in neurobiology are reframing...

CATT haplotype of the FKBP5 gene and dissociative phenomenology

Scientific Reports August 5, 2025 S. Moser, Hans Knoblauch, B. Müller-Myhsok et al.

Survival mechanisms are evolutionary grown behaviors in life-threatening situations. They are thought to be determined by genetic patterns involved in stress systems, such as the control of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. FK506 binding protein 5 (FKBP5) is a co-chaperone that is involved in modulating glucocorticoid receptor (GR) sensitivity in response to stress. Dissociation is...

Enhancing Fear Extinction: Pharmacological Approaches

Fear Extinction 2023 Olga Y. Ponomareva, Robert J. Fenster, Kerry J. Ressler

Extinction is the process by which the memory of a learned conditioned association decreases over time and with introduction of new associations. It is a vital part of fear learning, and it is critical to recovery in multiple fear-related disorders, including Specific and Social Phobias, Panic Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The process...

Deconstructing dissociation: a triple network model of trauma-related dissociation and its subtypes.

Neuropsychopharmacology October 6, 2022 Lauren A M Lebois, Poornima Kumar, Cori A Palermo et al.

Trauma-related pathological dissociation is characterized by disruptions in one's sense of self, perceptual, and affective experience. Dissociation and its trauma-related antecedents disproportionately impact women. However, despite the gender-related prevalence and high individual and societal costs, dissociation remains widely underappreciated in clinical practice. Moreover, dissociation...

DOI: 10.1038/s41386-022-01468-1 (opens in new tab) Full text (opens in new tab) Humans Magnetic resonance imaging Interpersonal relations Stress disorders, post-traumatic +2

Persistent Dissociation and its Neural Correlates Uniquely Predict Worse Outcomes after Trauma Exposure

American Journal of Psychiatry June 22, 2022 Lauren A M Lebois, N. Harnett, S. V. van Rooij et al.

Objective: Dissociation, a disruption or discontinuity in psychological functioning, is often linked with worse psychiatric symptoms; however, the prognostic value of dissociation after trauma is inconsistent. Determining whether trauma-related dissociation is uniquely predictive of later outcomes would enable early identification of at-risk trauma populations. We completed the largest...

3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine facilitates fear extinction learning

Translational Psychiatry September 15, 2015 Matthew B Young, Raül Andero, Kerry J. Ressler et al. 137 citations

Abstract Acutely administered 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, ‘ecstasy’) has been proposed to have long-term positive effects on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms when combined with psychotherapy. No preclinical data support a mechanistic basis for these claims. Given the persistent nature of psychotherapeutic gains facilitated by MDMA, we hypothesized that MDMA improves...